Over the course of his 50 year career, Hopper acted in movies that ran the gamut of American filmmaking. He played alongside his mentor James Dean in "Rebel Without a Cause" and "Giant." He received an Academy Award nomination for his role as a former alcoholic-turned basketball coach in the iconic sports film "Hoosiers." Hooper also played a maniac, over and over, in films ranging from "Apocalypse Now" to David Lynch's "Blue Velvet" to the 90's blockbuster "Speed."

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"Easy Rider", a drug-soaked journey through the American South, was widely considered to usher in a new era of movie-making. "We'd gone though the whole Sixties and nobody had made a film about anybody smoking grass without going out and killing a bunch of nurses," he told Entertainment Weekly in a 2005 interview. "I wanted 'Easy Rider' to be a time capsule for people about that period."

The actor battled alcohol and cocaine addiction throughout his career. In the years following "Rebel Without a Cause," his on-set tantrums cultivated a reputation for being hard to work with. Costar John Wayne became so incensed with Hopper during the filming of "True Grit" that he chased him with a loaded gun. He spent time in and out of detox programs and served a short stint in the psychiatric ward of a Los Angeles hospital.

Hopper acted in over 150 films, a career that recently earned him a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame this March. Hopper continued to work during his illness on his cable TV drama "Crash" and on a book of his own photography.

The end of the star's life had been occupied by a bitter divorce case with his wife of 14 years Victory Duffy Hopper. Over the course of his life, Hopper married 5 times, including an 8-day fling with the Mamas and Papas singer Michelle Phillips. He is survived by four children.